Sunday, 30 December 2012

With the Early Bird scheme ending on Saturday 22nd December 2012, (whereby you could enter your team for just £15 for the entire season), we ended up with 39 teams applying to enter our forthcoming 2013 season.

Out of the teams that have applied to enter so far, 26 teams have requested to also compete in the Adnams Knock Out Cup, which is a voluntary competition that teams can elect to enter, at no extra cost.

It isn't too late however, as you can still apply to join the league, between now and the final entry deadline of 31st January 2013, but the cost has risen to £20 per team. If you have a team of 8 players, that's just £2.50 each, and what other sport can you play for an entire season at this sort of cost!!??!

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

As the administration of the League took an enforced ''3 week break'', this has meant that the League Co-Ordinator is now 3 weeks behind in the collection process of the Early Bird applications.

On that basis, the deadline for Early Bird submissions will now be Saturday 22nd December 2012, (ie the last postal weekend before Xmas). The fees are £15 per team for the entire 2013 season, rising to £20 per team after the Xmas break.

Friday, 9 November 2012

On Wednesday 7th November 2012, a great friend to many was sadly taken from us. On behalf of all the League, we wish to extend our deepest, warmest condolences and sympathies to Jimmys wife, Tina and family.

Jimmy touched many peoples lives including us, in the local petanque scene, who had the privilege of meeting and getting to know him.

Personally, he was one of my greatest best friends and I already miss him so much.

So the Meadlands team win the Adnams Coastal Petanque League title for the second year in a row, defeating the previously unbeaten Cotton team in the Grand Final, where the Cotton team admitted that they just ''didn't get going'' and subsequently lost for the first time in 2012.

On the last boule of the last end in the last game, La Tete Du Turc Hasketon earned the Bronze medal with a 3-1 victory, coming from about 12-8 down, to win the last game over The Dicky II East Bergholt.

All 18 Divisional Winners & Runners Up received trophies after the Grand Final finished, ably presented by Teresa Holman, our representative from Adnams, along with the bronze, silver and gold medals on the day.

Thursday, 4 October 2012

Following our previous success in running an Early Bird registration scheme, with an appropriate suitable discount for the Early Birders, we will once again operate this as we will be taking applications for our 2013 season, at the 2012 Grand Finals Day next Sunday.

The forms that will be issued will no longer be ''Entry'' forms but instead will be ''Application To Join'' forms, as we legally reserve the right to decline applications. On the forms there will be a few questions that your team need to answer in order for us to place you in suitable divisions next season.

For the 2013 season we will be setting our Team Entry Fee at £20 per team (if you pay after the expiry of the Early Bird scheme), but giving £5 discount if your team registers before the Early Bird deadline. Whatever date your joins, each team will be issued with a copy of the latest FIPJP International Rulebook, in an attempt to clear up any uncertainty over certain rules & situations that arise during a match.

The 4 Grand Finalists will be revealed on Sunday 7th October, once the remaining quarter-final matches are played out.

All league members are invited to the Grand Finals Day, so bring along a chair and watch the 2012 Coastal League season reach its climax as our 4 finalists go head-to-head for the Coastal Championship title.

Monday, 17 September 2012

Matches MUST be played and results submitted by 8pm Sunday 7th October 2012

Cotton Trowel & Hammer v Golden Key Snape

La Tete Du Turc Hasketon v Bell Inn Walberswick

Three Horseshoes North Cove v The Dicky II East Bergholt

Suivre Les Boules Playford v Meadlands Stowmarket

FOR A BIT OF FUN, PLEASE SEE IF YOU CAN PREDICT THE FOUR GRAND FINALISTS FROM THESE MATCHES AND POST YOUR COMMENT ON THIS NEWS ITEM (THERE WILL BE A PRIZE AT GRAND FINALS DAY IF YOU CORRECTLY PREDICT ALL 4)

Tuesday, 4 September 2012

6 members of local league members, the Bramford Cock plus Simon & Lewis Fletcher took on a visiting couple from the Capital Petanque Club, Canberra in Australia yesterday evening.

Jean & Barry Lambert were staying with relatives in the village and got in touch with us via our website. A few e-mails backwards and forwards and an evening of games and new friendships ensued.

Home players Alan, Debbie and Edward were up first but lost 13-10. Parity was restored in the next game as Robin, Anne & Dick restored English pride with a 13-6 victory, leaving Simon & Lewis the 'glory' of the deciding game, which went to the home country by a similar 13-6 scoreline, giving England the 2-1 ''Ashes'' triumph.

Gifts were exchanged between our Australian visitors and ourselves as Jean and Barry were made Honorary Members of the league and then taken indoors for a rural pub experience!!

The 2nd annual Tattingstone Wheatsheaf Pairs tournament was held on Saturday 1st September, with 8 participating teams playing for nearly 6 hours.

Host venue team members Airavata & Sesa co-ordinated the 8 teams into 2 groups of 4, with each team in a group playing the other 3 teams in their group. At the end of that the group winners played the other groups runners-up in the semi-finals.

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Next week we welcome some new friends from 'Down Under' to Suffolk, who play at the Capital Petanque Club in Canberra.

They are looking to play some games whilst they are in the country and as they will be visiting relatives in Bramford, the Cock Inn was the obvious choice of venue.

Therefore we are looking for a few willing volunteers who could play either Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday next week. The opportunity has been offered to the Bramford Cock'N'Boules players first, as they are effectively the host team, but we have stated that if they aren't available, other people will be given the chance to play against our visitors from Australia.

STEWARDS ENQUIRY:-
Earlier in the week, we received an e-mail saying that The Dicky I had beaten Monarchs Bonce Stutton 3-1 and this has been recorded on the league tables.
Subsequently, on the phone number set up for receiving texted match scores, we received a message that it was actually 4-0.
As no scorecard has arrived yet, we await both teams confirmation

Thursday, 16 August 2012

By the evening of Sunday 19th August, we will require all your remaining scanned copies of scorecards, any posted ones need to be have been received by Saturdays post and of course, your text containing your Sunday match result.

By around 11pm on Sunday, we will release the Play-Off line-up, so all information needs to have been received by then.

Friday, 10 August 2012

We now have 19 teams registered for this competiton, with the registration fee being £5 per pair, and the entry deadline is approaching fast.

There is scope for a few more entries but these are going fast as this event is just over 2 weeks away.

Start time will be 11am and we aim to finish around 4 - 5pm. A local boule supplier will be in attendance with their trade stand, giving everyone the opportunity to ''stock up'' on petanque merchandise.

This event however, is only available for current or previous Coastal League players to enter.

Saturday, 4 August 2012

The invites have been sent out for this competition in the last two weeks and to date we have 17 teams entered for Sunday 26th August, at the Eels Foot Inn, Eastbridge.

The competition is deemed a ''Closed Event'' in that only Adnams Coastal Petanque League players may enter, at a cost of £5 per pair, with the format of play to be determined nearer the date.

We also have local petanque equipment stockists, Phil and Marion from Pen-Y-Coed Petanque, due to be in attendance with their stand, offering a great range of boules and associated items, along with advice and guidance for those of you looking for that early Christmas present of new boules etc!!

There is still time to enter the Eels Cup competition, but your registration fee needs to be forwarded to the League Co-Ordinator asap.

All cheques/Postal Orders MUST be made payable to ''Suffolk Coastal Petanque Alliance''

Following his successful England debut in Luxembourg last month, our English Petanque Association have again selected Lewis as part of a 4-player team to compete in the Rabasa Alicante International Youth tournament in Spain during October.

He will be partnered by his team-mates Jamie Blyton from Northern Region and Monty Quaia from London Region but also added to the team is Harry Waldie from Eastern Region. This event is limited to 16 invited national teams, many of whom competed in the Luxembourg tournament but are also supplemented by other national teams from Spain, Denmark, Sweden etc.

This event will be only a few weeks after Lewis has competed as part of the Anglia Regional Junior team at the Inter-Regional Championships, being held at Hayling Island, near Portsmouth during mid-September.

Thursday, 26 July 2012

A reminder to all of our current 47 league teams, that all of your scheduled league programmes, MUST be completed by or on Sunday 19th August 2012, with your final results texted to the League Co-Ordinator.
A mobile phone number will be provided in one of our News Bulletins nearer to the last week of the league programme, for the sole use of texting your result. (You will also still need to scan/post your scorecard as usual).

Any match that doesn't get played will be declared void and teams will not receive league points for this, as per the rules last season.

AS OF TONIGHT, YOU HAVE JUST 25 DAYS TO GO....SOME TEAMS STILL NEED TO PLAY 3 MATCHES, SO PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ARRANGE WITH YOUR OPPONENTS

Having been selected for the England Junior team, Ipswich-based Lewis Fletcher (of the Mill Inn Aldeburgh & Meadlands Stowmarket), journeyed last weekend with the rest of his team-mates to Kayl in Luxembourg, for an invitational tournament involving some of Europes best junior triples teams. Arriving on the Friday evening in time for the welcoming meal and get together, play commenced on Saturday, with the knock-out stages and the shooting competition on the Sunday.
Lewis' triple team managed 4 wins from 8 matches and ended up being beaten by the French team who went on to win the C category final.

Sunday, 8 July 2012

After qualifying for the 2012 England Junior team, Lewis Fletcher, from our Mill Inn Aldeburgh team, was due to play the Welsh Junior team, for his first international cap. Unfortunately the Welsh couldn't get a team together but all was not lost, as Lewis and his team-mates were then asked just last Saturday whether they would compete in next weekends 8th European Invitational Junior Championships, being held in Kayl, Luxembourg.

Having accepted this prestigious invite, we travel on Friday morning via Eurostar etc onto Luxembourg and are due to be picked up by the host club. Saturday and Sunday sees Lewis' team plus one other England junior team facing teams from at least 8 other countries including Israel, in an event sponsored by UniCredit Group, LuxAir and Nutella.

Sunday, 17 June 2012

The combined force of Pettistree's two teams took on the joint team of Mill Inn Aldeburghs two sides, in a Sunday morning friendly. In a two hour time slot, all games were played as mini-games, with 6 ends being played and the score at the end of the sixth end being the final score. Twenty three games got played, with most players playing with a variety of different team-mates but the overall final score stood at;

Pettistree Greyhound 11 Mill Inn Aldeburgh 10 (with 2 drawn games)

Great short-match format and along the lines of what we plan for the Festival of Boules in July.

Tuesday, 5 June 2012

In honour of Her Majestys Jubilee Celebrations, Bank Holiday saw the unveiling of a new piste at the Saxmundham Sports and Recreational Club. Approximately 30 people turned up to play and were aided and assisted by existing league players from Aldeburgh, Snape & Hasketon, giving advice and tips whenever asked.

The facility has been organised by the 'Saxy' Ladies, who currently play for the White Lion Aldeburgh but the hope is that this piste will have its own team or teams competing there as of next season. Whilst the piste is fairly soft at the moment (as it's only 3 weeks old), we are sure it will compact down and become an interesting and challenging piste in due course.

There are 'follow up' sessions planned for every Saturday in June, from 4pm to 6pm , starting on the 9th and including the 16th, 23rd and 30th June. All are welcome to attend and boules are available for use (but if you already have your own, please bring them along).

Further details about joining the club and the boules team will be available at these sessions.

Jenny and her fellow members at Saxmundham would like to say thank you to all those that took part and look forward to seeing you again.

Saturday, 2 June 2012

Our 2012 Festival of Boules, due to be held on Saturday 21st July and Sunday 22nd July, has just 2 team places left.

Each team must consist of a minimum of 4 players and at least one of those, MUST BE A NOVICE player. On both the Saturday and Sunday evening venues, the respective hosts intend to put on a BBQ or something similar.

All teams are invited to enter, it's free of charge and we get the chance to introduce more people to our sport. You do not have to be current members of the Adnams Coastal Petanque League, as the invite is now open to all, as our league teams have now had sufficient time to take first option. Teams can select to play at as many venues as they want.

At event venue, we will play a mini-round robin between the competing teams, with either timed games or games played over a set number of ends.

Tuesday, 22 May 2012

The ''Saxy Ladies'', who currently play in the White Lion Aldeburgh team in the Ghostship Division of the Adnams Coastal Petanque League, have managed to get a new piste built at the Saxmundham Sports Club.

They are inviting anyone to go along and try the new set-up on Monday June 4th, Saturday June 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th, all dates are for 4pm to 6pm.

According to our ''man in the know'', there will be free tea and cakes on offer.........please form an orderly queue...behind me!!!

Friday, 18 May 2012

Whilst we were away on our League tour of Belgium, Ipswich-based Coastal League player, Lewis Fletcher, had to forego his place on the trip, as instead, he was competing in the Second Round of the England Petanque Associations Junior Triples qualifiers in Gillingham, Kent.

The Mill Inn Aldeburgh youngster, had already played with his team at the First Round 3 weeks earlier, held just outside Coventry and was positioned in third place after the first event. In Gillingham, Lewis' team secured enough further wins to remain in bronze medal position and thus secure his England international call-up for the English Junior team to face Wales Juniors in July.

Lewis' team-mates are Jamie & Annabelle Blyton (Northern Region) and Monty Quaia (London Region), with their coach, Matt Blyton, himself a former GB World Championship player with a vast amount of playing experience at the highest levels.

Currently Lewis and his team-mates are also eyeing the opportunity to compete in the EPA Espoirs Series as well, (this age category being for 15 to 22 year olds), as the entry age was recently reduced from 17 to 15 years.

Competing at this level comes with some costs attached and as a League, we are looking for either corporate and/or individual sponsorship of Lewis, to help cover his travel and accomodation expenses, whilst on England duty. If you feel you or your company could assist in any way, please contact the League on our usual e-mail address of imogenlewiskira@sky.com

Thursday, 26 April 2012

Due to some minor re-organisation of the Southwold Bitter Division, we are pleased to announce that the pre-existing team at the Cratfield Poacher, have stepped back into the breach and will be facing up against the likes of Huntingfield, Walberswick and North Cove in the coming weeks.

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

At 6 different venues within the Adnams Coastal Petanque League, we are holding a 2012 Festival of Boules event.

What you need is a team of a minimum of 4 players BUT at least one player MUST be a novice. You can select one of the six venues to take your team along to. Each venue will consist of the home team plus a maximum of three visiting teams. Over a set amount of time, your team will play the other three teams present, before the ''roadshow'' moves on to the next location.

You can enter your team at more than one venue if you like and it is completely free to enter, you don't even have to be a current team in the League.

HOWEVER we do ask that you pre-book your team with us.

Both the evening venues are planning to have a BBQ or similar, which may be a ''pay as you eat'' but that particular bit is not being organised by the league.

Saturday 21st July
11am at the Middleton Bell
3pm at the Moot Hall Arena, Aldeburgh
7pm at the Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham

Sunday 22nd July
10am at Kettleburgh Millenium Green
2pm at the Cretingham Bell
6pm at the Huntingfield Millenium Green

Thursday, 12 April 2012

Eastern European petanque player Olof Paril has been seeking entry into the Adnams Coastal Petanque League after moving into the area just under two weeks ago.

Our Coastal League Co-Ordinator stated that Olofs previous club had made approaches to see if their ex-player could find a place in one of our Coastal Leagues teams. In a report, 2C FIM Gullabool Petanque Club, had enquired whether their former top player would be able to find a team in our neck of the woods.

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

After a little bit of a delay in receiving a response from my Belgian contacts, we are now just about there with finalising the details for our third petanque location of our Leagues Belgium trip next month (actually it will be the first location we visit).

As we plan to arrive at our Belgium base by mid-afternoon on the Friday, we now have the invite to ''nip'' down the road into central Middelkerke itself and visit PC De Zeemeermin (translated as The Mermaid) either before or after our evening meal.

Most of us are planning to make this visit, in preparation for our Saturday and Sunday matches, before returning home during the Bank Holiday Monday.

Saturday, 11 February 2012

Thanks to all the hardy souls who braved last nights temperatures (as low as -10 at one point) and attended the Registration Night.

We start this season with 48 teams, once again another increase on last season's numbers and whilst we have lost a few existing teams along the way, due to pub closures, relocations etc, we welcome 7 new teams plus 1 further new location.

Most surprising of all is the absence of last seasons Bronze Medalists, Hoxne Swan PC, as they were, without question,one of the leagues stronger teams.

We were able to hand out £750 worth of Adnams freebies at last nights Registration, as they further enhance their corporate sponsorship of the league, and these were gratefully received by the attending teams.

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Ok, something I've been tinkering around with for a couple of months now, is our official logo for our forthcoming Belgium trip. It will now be used on any trip paperwork and will be the feature of our gifts to our various hosts over the weekend.